Law of the Nazirites

6 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man or woman makes ^[a]a special vow, namely, the vow of ^(A)a ^[b]Nazirite, to live as a Nazirite for the Lord, ³ he shall ^(B)abstain from wine and ^[c]strong drink; he shall ^[d]consume no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes. ⁴ All the days of his consecration he shall not eat anything that is produced from the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin.

⁵ ‘All the days of his vow of consecration ^(C)no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled which he lives as a Nazirite for the Lord; he shall let the locks of hair on his head grow long.

⁶ ‘^(D)All the days of his life as a Nazirite for the Lord he shall not come up to a dead person. ⁷ He ^(E)shall not make himself unclean for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, when they die, because his consecration to God is ^[e]on his head. ⁸ All the days of his consecration he is holy to the Lord.

⁹ ‘But if someone dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head of hair, then ^(F)he shall shave his head on the day when he becomes clean; ^(G)he shall shave it on the seventh day. ¹⁰ Then on the eighth day he shall bring ^(H)two turtledoves or two young doves to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting. ¹¹ And the priest shall offer ^(I)one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and make atonement for him ^[f]regarding his sin because of the dead person. And on that same day he shall consecrate his head, ¹² and shall live his days of consecration as a Nazirite for the Lord, and shall bring a male lamb a year old as a guilt offering; but the preceding days will ^[g]not count, because his consecration was defiled.

¹³ ‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite ^(J)when the days of his consecration are fulfilled: he shall bring ^[h]his offering to the entrance of the tent of meeting. ¹⁴ And he shall present his offering to the Lord: one male lamb a year old without defect as a burnt offering, one ^(K)ewe lamb a year old without defect as a sin offering, one ram without defect as a peace offering, ¹⁵ and a basket of ^(L)unleavened loaves of fine flour mixed with oil and unleavened wafers spread with oil, along with ^(M)their grain offering and their drink offering. ¹⁶ Then the priest shall present them before the Lord and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. ¹⁷ He shall also offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, together with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall also offer its grain offering and its drink offering. ^18 (N)The Nazirite shall then shave his consecrated head of hair at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and take the consecrated hair of his head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings. ^19 (O)And the priest shall take the ram’s shoulder when it has been boiled, and one unleavened loaf from the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the ^[i]hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated hair. ²⁰ Then the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. It is holy for the priest, together with the breast offered as a wave offering, and the thigh offered as ^[j]a contribution; and ^(P)afterward the Nazirite may drink wine.’

²¹ “This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to the Lord according to his consecration, in addition to what else ^[k]he can afford; corresponding to his vow which he makes, so he shall do according to the law of his consecration.”

Aaron’s Benediction

²² Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²³ “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘In this way ^(Q)you shall bless the sons of Israel. You are to say to them:

²⁷ So they shall ^[m](X)invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and then I will bless them.”

Jesus Asserts His Deity

²² At that time the ^[a]Feast of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem; ²³ it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple area, in the portico of ^(A)Solomon. ^24 (B)The Jews then surrounded Him and began saying to Him, “How long ^[b]will You keep us in suspense? If You are the ^[c]Christ, tell us ^(C)plainly.” ²⁵ Jesus answered them, “^(D)I told you, and you do not believe; ^(E)the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. ²⁶ But you do not believe, because ^(F)you are not of My sheep. ²⁷ My sheep ^(G)listen to My voice, and ^(H)I know them, and they follow Me; ²⁸ and I give them ^(I)eternal life, and they will never perish; and ^(J)no one will snatch them out of My hand. ^29 [d]My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. ^30 (K)I and the Father are ^[e]one.”

³¹ The Jews ^(L)picked up stones again to stone Him. ³² Jesus replied to them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” ³³ The Jews answered Him, “We are not stoning You for a good work, but for ^(M)blasphemy; and because You, being a man, ^(N)make Yourself out to be God.” ³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in ^(O)your ^(P)Law: ‘^(Q)I said, you are gods’? ³⁵ If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be nullified), ³⁶ are you saying of Him whom the Father ^(R)sanctified and ^(S)sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘^(T)I am the Son of God’? ^37 (U)If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; ³⁸ but if I do them, even though you do not believe Me, believe ^(V)the works, so that you may ^[f]know and understand that ^(W)the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” ³⁹ Therefore ^(X)they were seeking again to arrest Him, and ^(Y)He eluded their grasp.

⁴⁰ And He went away ^(Z)again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He stayed there. ⁴¹ Many came to Him and were saying, “While John performed no ^(AA)sign, yet ^(AB)everything John said about this man was true.” ⁴² And ^(AC)many believed in Him there.

The Cloud on the Tabernacle

¹⁵ Now on ^(A)the day that the tabernacle was erected, ^(B)the cloud covered the tabernacle, the ^(C)tent of the testimony, and ^(D)in the evening it was like the appearance of fire over the tabernacle until morning. ¹⁶ That is how it was continuously; ^(E)the cloud would cover it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. ^17 (F)Whenever the cloud was lifted from over the tent, afterward the sons of Israel would set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the sons of Israel would camp. ¹⁸ At the ^[a]command of the Lord the sons of Israel would set out, and at the ^[b]command of the Lord they would camp; ^(G)as long as the cloud settled over the tabernacle, they remained camped. ¹⁹ Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, ^[c]the sons of Israel would comply with the Lord’s ordinance and not set out. ²⁰ If ^[d]sometimes the cloud remained a few days over the tabernacle, ^(H)in accordance with the ^[e]command of the Lord they remained camped. Then in accordance with the ^[f]command of the Lord they set out. ²¹ If ^[g]sometimes the cloud ^[h]remained from evening until morning, when the cloud was lifted in the morning they would set out; or if it remained in the daytime and at night, whenever the cloud was lifted, they would set out. ²² Whether it was two days, a month, or a year that the cloud lingered over the tabernacle, staying above it, the sons of Israel remained camped and did not set out; but ^(I)when it was lifted, they did set out. ^23 (J)At the ^[i]command of the Lord they camped, and at the ^[j]command of the Lord they set out; they did what the Lord required, in accordance with the ^[k]command of the Lord through Moses.

²⁹ Then Moses said to ^(A)Hobab the son of ^(B)Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out to the place of which the Lord said, ‘^(C)I will give it to you.’ ^(D)Come with us and we will do you good, for the Lord ^(E)has ^[a]promised good concerning Israel.” ³⁰ But he said to him, “^(F)I will not come, but rather will go to my own land and relatives.” ³¹ Then he said, “Please do not leave us, since you know ^[b]where we should camp in the wilderness, and you ^(G)will be as eyes for us. ³² So it will be, if you go with us, that ^[c](H)whatever good the Lord ^[d]does for us, ^(I)we will ^[e]do for you.”

^33 (J)So they moved on from the mountain of the Lord three days’ journey, with ^(K)the ark of the covenant of the Lord going on in front of them for the ^[f]three days, to seek out ^(L)a resting place for them. ^34 (M)And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp.

³⁵ Then it came about when the ark set out that Moses said,

³⁶ And when it came to rest, he said,

Salutation

1 Paul, ^(A)a bond-servant of God and an ^(B)apostle of Jesus Christ, ^[a]for the faith of those ^(C)chosen of God and ^(D)the knowledge of the truth which is ^(E)according to godliness, ² in ^(F)the hope of eternal life, which God, ^(G)who cannot lie, ^(H)promised ^[b](I)long ages ago, ³ but ^(J)at the proper time revealed His word in ^(K)the proclamation ^(L)with which I was entrusted ^(M)according to the commandment of ^(N)God our Savior;

⁴ To ^(O)Titus, ^(P)my true ^[c]son ^[d]in a ^(Q)common faith: ^(R)Grace and peace from God the Father and ^(S)Christ Jesus our Savior.

Qualifications of Elders

⁵ For this reason I left you in ^(T)Crete, that you would set in order what remains and ^(U)appoint ^(V)elders in every city as I directed you, ⁶ namely, ^(W)if any man is beyond reproach, the ^(X)husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of ^(Y)indecent behavior or ^(Z)rebellion. ⁷ For the ^[e](AA)overseer must be beyond reproach as ^(AB)God’s steward, not ^(AC)self-willed, not quick-tempered, not ^(AD)overindulging in wine, not ^[f]a bully, ^(AE)not greedy for money, ⁸ but ^(AF)hospitable, ^(AG)loving what is good, self-controlled, righteous, holy, disciplined, ^9 (AH)holding firmly the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to ^[g]exhort in ^(AI)sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it.

^10 (AJ)For there are many ^(AK)rebellious people, ^(AL)empty talkers and deceivers, especially ^(AM)those of the circumcision, ¹¹ who must be silenced because they are upsetting ^(AN)whole families, teaching ^(AO)things they should not teach ^(AP)for the sake of ^[h]dishonest gain. ¹² One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “^(AQ)Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” ¹³ This testimony is true. For this reason ^(AR)reprimand them ^(AS)severely so that they may be ^(AT)sound in the faith, ¹⁴ not paying attention to Jewish ^(AU)myths and ^(AV)commandments of men who ^(AW)turn away from the truth. ^15 (AX)To the pure, all things are pure; but ^(AY)to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their ^(AZ)mind and their conscience are defiled. ^16 (BA)They profess to know God, but by their deeds they ^(BB)deny Him, being ^(BC)detestable and ^(BD)disobedient and ^(BE)worthless ^(BF)for any good deed.

Proclaim Sound Doctrine

2 But as for you, proclaim the things which are fitting for ^(BG)sound doctrine. ^2 (BH)Older men are to be ^[i](BI)temperate, dignified, self-controlled, ^(BJ)sound ^(BK)in faith, in love, in ^[j]perseverance.

³ Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, ^(BL)not malicious gossips nor ^(BM)enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, ⁴ so that they may ^[k]encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, ⁵ to be sensible, pure, ^(BN)workers at home, kind, being ^(BO)subject to their own husbands, ^(BP)so that the word of God will not be dishonored.

⁶ Likewise urge ^(BQ)the young men to be ^[l]sensible; ⁷ in all things show yourself to be ^(BR)an example of good deeds, with ^[m]purity in doctrine, dignified, ⁸ sound in speech which is beyond reproach, ^(BS)so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.